Introduction to Agile
Build A Shared Understanding Of Agile And How To Begin
Introduction to Agile is a one-day private workshop that helps teams, leaders, stakeholders, and mixed groups build a practical shared understanding of agile principles and common ways of applying them.
Chosen by companies in SaaS, Healthcare, Government, Consulting, Financial Services, Retail, Energy, and more.
Agile That Stays Abstract
- People use agile terminology without a shared meaning
- Teams copy practices without understanding why they exist
- Leaders expect agile to create certainty or speed immediately
- Scrum, Kanban, and other approaches feel like disconnected choices
- Roles and decision boundaries remain unclear
- The organization begins changing without practical first steps
Agile That Gives People A Practical Starting Point
- Build shared language around agile principles and outcomes
- Understand iterations, continuous flow, feedback, and incremental delivery
- Compare how Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming, and other approaches apply agile ideas
- Clarify how responsibilities and working relationships may change
- Give leaders and stakeholders enough context to support teams responsibly
- Identify small experiments the organization can try and inspect
Why This Workshop Is Different
What Participants Will Be Able To Do
Explain What Agile Changes — Describe how agile affects planning, delivery, feedback, decision-making, and the way teams respond to uncertainty.
Understand Iterations And Flow — Explain how timeboxed and flow-based approaches help teams deliver, learn, and adjust without waiting until the end of a long project.
Recognize Agile Roles And Responsibilities — Understand the responsibilities commonly associated with product ownership, team members, Scrum Masters, agile coaches, managers, and stakeholders.
Use Backlogs And Feedback Loops — Understand how backlogs, planning, daily coordination, reviews, and retrospectives help teams make decisions, gather feedback, and adapt.
Choose Sensible First Experiments — Identify a small number of practices or changes the group can try, inspect, and adjust in its own environment.
How The Workshop Works
Introduction to Agile is a practical, interactive workshop. Participants learn through concise teaching, group discussion, exercises, and examples drawn from common delivery challenges.
The workshop connects agile principles to decisions about planning, roles, backlogs, feedback, and improvement. Participants compare iterative and flow-based approaches and identify sensible first experiments for their environment.
- Delivered privately for teams and organizations
- Delivered live online or in person
- Typically delivered in one day
- For teams, leaders, stakeholders, or mixed groups
- Configured around your goals, industry, and current ways of working
- Includes discussion, exercises, and practical application
Workshop Outline
- Why organizations use agile
- Agile principles and incremental delivery
- Iterations and continuous flow
- Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming
- Roles and responsibilities
- Backlogs, stories, refinement, and planning
- Feedback, reviews, retrospectives, and improvement
- Adoption challenges and first experiments
Resources Participants Can Keep Using
Participants receive resources they can continue using after the workshop, including:
- MGS AI Toolkit for agile questions, backlog items, and story splitting
- Planning Poker® for collaborative estimation
Learn From People Who Helped Shape Agile And Scrum
Mountain Goat Software has spent more than 25 years helping teams and organizations understand, adopt, and improve agile ways of working.
Mike Cohn co-founded both the Agile Alliance and the Scrum Alliance and is the author of User Stories Applied, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile.
Participants learn from practitioners who understand the principles behind agile, the frameworks used to apply them, and the organizational challenges that arise when people begin working differently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Should Attend?
This workshop is useful for team members, product people, Scrum Masters, agile coaches, managers, leaders, stakeholders, and others who need a practical introduction to agile. It works especially well for mixed groups that need shared language before beginning or expanding an agile effort.
Do We Need To Be Using Agile Already?
No. The workshop is designed for people who are new to agile, evaluating it, preparing for a change, or trying to connect concepts they have encountered without receiving a complete introduction.
Does The Workshop Focus Only On Scrum?
No. Scrum is an important example, but participants also learn about Kanban, Extreme Programming, iterative delivery, continuous flow, and the principles these approaches share.
Can The Workshop Use Examples From Our Work?
Yes. Because the workshop is private, examples and discussion can be configured around your products, projects, roles, current delivery approach, and anticipated challenges.
Is This A Certification Course?
No. Introduction to Agile is a practical, non-certification workshop designed to build shared understanding and help participants make informed decisions about how to begin.